Bonanzle has been such a blessing for many sellers. The founders of Bonanzle have spent endless hours working on this site and at not cost to the seller unless their items sells. The final value fees at Bonanzle are next to nothing.I have to say these guys are something other than the ordinary! I mean I just couldn't do what they do day in and day out. There is just no way I would put up with it. I know that Bill was up all night the night before last. I logged in at 5 a.m. eastern time which makes it 2 a.m. his time and he was still going on hours after that. Answering questions on the boards.
It amazes me with some of the threads "no sales I am going back to e-bay". To these posts I have no sympathy. Professional sellers will not chime in and "beg" you to stay. True business owners, and professional sellers feel no need to cause a scene and "flounce" out the door. My teenage daughter might though. To this post I have several questions for you:
1. Have you uploaded to Google Base?
2. Have you listed on everyplaceisell.com?
3. Have you submitted your booth url to the search engines?
4. Have you read any of the forums on self promotion and did any of it?
Have you leveraged the many tools Bonanzle provides to help you drive sales to your booth?
I came to Bonanzle to have control over my business again! Not to make it someone else's business to run my business and to make my sales for me. News flash, if you had your own business on your own web site, it would cost you plenty per month and YOU would have to promote your business. Maybe you really aren't ready for your own business, it takes work and plenty of hours devoted to it everyday. Not just when you feel like it or sales are down.
Bonanzle couldn't be any easier than it already is. The one box for listing is so simple and quick. You can upload your pictures at the same time you are writing your listing and then go back and crop them and even rotate them. Check the shipping method, new or used, or best offer, it really is a snap. These guys couldn't have made this easier. However, you do have to take a minute to make sure that you have read what you are checking in the little boxes or have not checked in the little boxes.
Just a few hours later this shows up on the boards,"Bonanzle marked my items USED? Thats why i have NO sales!". I did not edit this title, this is the actual title of the thread. No Mr. Business owner, Bonanzle did NOT mark your items used, you did not check the little box that says they are new. I so do wish that I could take a screen shot of the 1/2 page that it takes to make a listing. I have been trying to learn this for the last few days, still haven't gotten it yet, but I will. This type of thread really eats at me. What are you thinking to post this for everyone to see just how educated that you really are? This tells me that in all of the time that you have been on Bonanzle you have not once even taken the time to read your own listing. Look at it the way that your customers are going to look at it. If I had done this to all of my listings, I would have figured out a way to change them and hoped that no one else had seen them. I surly wouldn't have headed for the boards to post it.
Prior to the last post this thread was started," I just need to VENT.....is anyone listening??". I have to ask you here again, who is in charge of your business? So in retrospect, whose business is it? Yours? Hmmm.... Why would you bring the e-bay drama to Bonanzle? You have been on e-bay for how long and a powerseller and you still don't know the rules and the way that things have been working? I have a very hard time with what people want and what they chose to show to the world. There is NO way that a professional business owner would walk across to the other side of the mall and start venting for all of the customers or the other business owners, in that store to see and hear. Would you? Really?
I have written this blog in hopes that the people that say they are business owners, see just how bad this really looks. It looks like you have no idea how to run or take control of your business. The boards are no place for these kinds of things. Bonanzle is a very helpful community and if you need help all you have to do is read the boards or ask questions.
If you need help with your listings, step back and take just a minute to make sure that they are what you are wanting to tell your customers. It is your job as a business owner to know what is going on in your business. Don't ever let your customers come to you and tell you what your listings look like or what they say.
If you have issues at another site, please take it up at that site. Find a mentor someone that you can e-mail for advice if something goes south. You just don't run to another site and start venting about the other one. Again, if one site is not good for your business, only you can make the changes and move to or from that site.
Let's try to think before we head to the boards next time. Is this what you want your potential buyers to see? Because they will. Everything you post here, can be seen all over the internet, it is in Google....etc....
Do we want our forums to become what we left behind?
Very well said.
ReplyDeleteI have had great sales at Bonanzle. Those that don't sell I can look at their booths and tell you in seconds exactly why in nearly every case. One bozo lists like 200 movies and books and cd's, and his whole description for each is ... well there ISN'T one! Title, author or performer period. How would I know if I would like this book/movie/CD if I don't even know what the heck it's about?? How old is it, what condition is it? Sellers need to do their homework, include every detail in the listing. Buyers are NOT going to do it for you. You can find such details easily on Amazon, and cut and paste as I do, takes a few seconds. It's not up to the buyer to do this research, it's up to the seller to provide the information that SELLS the product.
ReplyDeleteAnother seller has no photos, or one tiny photo of, say, a rare vintage piece of china. One I was even mildly interested in buying, but I wanted to see a photo of the BACK side of the ite with the makers mark, the most important part. Photos are FREE on Bonanzle, no excuse to skimp on the photos. The seller told me when I asked, "Oh I only provide photos on request". No sale there. Buyers are not going to wait around while you take pictures and maybe get back to them. Include ALL the information YOU as a buyer would want UP FRONT in your listing.
As I said, I'm selling well. It's really not that hard.
It's funny, I was just thinking this morning, "I wonder how often sellers on eBay announce they are going to leave on the forums before leaving?" It's a funny phenomenon on Bonanzle. Since the community is so sympathetic to almost any issue, I think that every once in awhile rabblerousers make negative posts because they want the attention that announcing their displeasure tends to earn them.
ReplyDeleteOf course, more often than idle complaining, I see people honestly request feedback about how to help their listings sell better, and with all the seller experience in our forums, I think this is a cool way for new users to learn how to do better.
But for those that just want to stir the pot, I recommend marking the posts as "venemous," which will make them go away soon enough :)
Luckily, I think that negative messages represent less than 5% of total posting volume, probably something like 1-2% realistically. I am very pleased with the overall attitude of the forums thanks to the positive attitudes like yours, Phaedra's, and so many of our other regulars. For the number of different personalities that are mixing every day, it's wonderful to see almost everyone getting along and enjoying each other's company so much.
Thanks for the good spirit!
Bill